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The
Ultimate Sun Screen Gail Ferris |
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In reading the December 2009 issue
of Atlantic Coastal Kayaker I noticed that among New Products was listed
products Dr. Shade sun protection items from Glacier Glove www.glacieroutdoor.com. Quite by accident I decided
some years ago to take with me a ski hood made of black windproof material
that covers my entire head with openings for my eyes and mouth. The opening for the mouth covers my nose
so that I can breathe freely with a flap along the top of my lips covering my
mouth. Very conveniently the opening
for my eyes can be stretched open to expose my nose and mouth as needed. Wow what a nice invention that hood is. My original intention was
to have a windproof insulating material hood to keep me warm in cold windy
conditions among the ice. I have had
the less than pleasant experience of being committed to paddling many hours among
the ice wearing insufficient insulation on my head neck and face – really it
is not fun just getting colder and colder knowing there is no choice but to
just try to make due with anything I could scrounge any flat material like
plastic bag or a piece of waste plastic debris from the water from my cockpit
to help me stay warm. I am not above
stuffing Mylar and or plastic potato chip package wrappers inside my hat hood
or inside my pogies just to help me stay warm. Thanks for trash on the water in seriously
freezing moments like this. I bought from Campmor in |
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On the back of my lifejacket I have
sewn a large hook and loop closure pocket on the back of my lifejacket where
I keep these special items. These are
items I may or may not need depending on the circumstances while
paddling. When I get out of my kayak I
just put these Items such as binoculars back inside this pocket on my
lifejacket. The reason for this pocket
stowage is that I do not want to be doing the awkward move of hunting in my
cockpit for any of these items. Opening the sprayskirt on my cockpit while paddling among the ice is
a very bad choice I loose all the precious heat from my cockpit and run the
risk of losing my balance or taking in a wave. When I am already feeling
cold, any activity that interrupts my paddling among the ice for more than a
split second really can make me become much colder. I stay warm by
paddling. I know I have already tried
sailing my kayak in the arctic, forget that idea, only in a dire emergency,
really dire, would I sit and sail or fly a kite from my cockpit to propel my
kayak. What is really scary when
the cold is getting to me is that my judgment ever so slowly becomes more and
more compromised. Hypothermia is
really scary because there I am all alone I start misreading what I am
seeing. One time I nearly missed a
whole settlement, Aappilattoq, and paddled over to another island a few miles
away because I did not happen to look off to my side and notice that --- was
just over there. I imagined that I was
still among the islands and that the island this town was on was more miles
to the west. Wow that was close! Looking at the ad for Dr.
Shade I agree that white is the best color for paddling in warm climates to
wear as a sun screen. I discovered that using a
hood as both insulation for cold conditions and as a physical sunscreen keeps
me from developing the proverbial cold sore on my lip. The endless discomfort of a cold sore is
distracting because it never goes away until days after I get off the water
and it is ugly to look at. When I paddled in 1989 in
Pond Inlet I had a cold sore the entire time the results being that no one
whom I was with ever knew what I look like without a cold sore. The sensation of being
sunburned is miserable I would rather wear some sort of fabric barrier than
attempt to use chemical sunscreen agents because they irritate my skin and do
not provide sun barrier for sufficient time as I paddle usually the entire
day. Four hours which is what chemical
sunscreens work for is just long enough to get started paddling on a normal day. I have had my Kokotat dry
suit for years and noticed that any petrochemical based compound I put on my
skin drastically reduces the life expectancy of my latex seals. This is a major factor why I put nothing on
my skin because the last thing I want to do is compromise my latex seals. I wear a drysuit always
when conditions require and wearing my drysuit is a matter trust because when
I fall into the water any leak in my drysuit is the last problem I want to
have as I am paddling in |
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Above is a photo taken off
Innarsuit island where I was wearing these items which I find very handy for
dealing with paddling exposure in cold bright sun Gaileferris@hotmail.com 8 10 2009 www.nkhorizons.com |
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